All water resources, facilities to be fully monitored by 2019 — ministry

AMMAN — By the end of 2019, the Kingdom’s 500 water resources and facilities will be monitored by cameras and control systems to safeguard the water infrastructure from violations and sabotage, according to a government official.

The plan is part of an ongoing effort to monitor the country’s strategic water resources around-the-clock in order to detect malfunctions and violations, an official at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said, indicating that some 120 strategic water resources are currently subject to continuous security monitoring.

The ministry will start installing a “comprehensive technical and security surveillance system” on the King Abdullah Canal, as well as three main dams, within a month, the official added.

The water resources and facilities, including dams, wells, pumping stations and reservoirs, are now being connected via cameras and control systems to a recently established centre at the ministry, in order to monitor and remotely control the operations of the water resources.

“In light of the current regional instability, linking water resources and facilities which are situated at the Kingdom’s borders with Syria and Iraq is our top priority, in order to protect them from individual or collective acts of sabotage, such as pollution or explosions,” the official, who preferred to remain unnamed, told The Jordan Times.